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Manhoef and Saki are monsters in the ring. They both bring a unique brand of intensity to their contests and whoever thought of matching these two against each other was responsible for an act of minor genius. Who wouldn't want to see two knockout artists, both capable of powerful, flowing, knockout combinations, go to work on each other?

At the time, Manhoef was a slightly more established name than Saki, though the latter's name was on the rise. Manhoef was known in kickboxing circles for his trilogy with Remy Bonjasky, and was also responsible for one of the most violent knockouts in K-1 history in his 2007 match with Ruslan Karaev. Rather frighteningly, every one of his kickboxing victories is a knockout or stoppage of some sort. His record speaks to spotty defense, however, and most of his losses have also come by stoppages, making a Manhoef match an unpredictable affair.

Gokhan Saki's first win over a major name in K-1 was against Alexei Ignashov in 2006. Since then, he's really come into his own as a smaller fighter in the super heavyweight division. He's beaten Paul Slowinski, Ruslan Karaev, Ray Sefo, and Tyrone Spong since then. 2010 saw him put on his best performances yet, with a swift destruction of Freddy Kemayo and a four round war against Daniel Ghita.

Were the two to rematch now, Saki would be a heavy favorite, but at the time of this match, it was a much closer contest, especially since they were fully capable of KOing each other. Saki wears the blue gloves in the bout, Manhoef the red. Note that, even though Saki is already small for a K-1 super heavy, he still carries about 20 lb over Manhoef and stands 3 inches taller.

By the 2005 K-1 MAX Final, referees were more consistent in enforcing the one-strike per clinch rule by breaking clinches and issuing warnings and yellow cards. Fighters found inventive ways to circumvent the rules, however, or ignore them altogether, choosing to hazard a warning. After this World Grand Prix, clinch rules became more restrictive.

This was Alistair Overeem's debut K-1 WGP Final, and he was something of an unknown factor in K-1. He had obvious potential, but really was riding on the fame of his first performance against Badr Hari.

Ewerton Teixeira, too, was rather new in K-1. Like Overeem, most of his combat sports experience lay outside K-1, though he came from Kyokushin Karate circuits, while Overeem competed in MMA. Watch for the ways in which their styles contrast, especially in how they respond to being in clinch range. Overeem wears the red gloves, Teixeira the blue.

Kem and Sudsakorn are facing off a second time this January 15th as part of the Isuzu 67 kg Tournament. This post profiles their previous match-up in 2009.

Their January 15th bout is one of the most pivotal in the ongoing tournament, since both are strong contenders to win the finals. Prior to entering the tournament, both fighters were performing at a high level against foreign and Thai competition under K-1 and Muay Thai rules.

Kem was originally slated to participate in the Contender Asia season 2 as Khem Fairtex, but the show fell through and he joined Sitsongpeenong camp. Moving up from 63.5 kg, 140 lb, due to a lack of competition, he notched big wins over BigBen Chor Praram 6, Nopparat Keatkhamtorn, Singhmanee Sor Srisompong, and Diesellek King Boxing Gym, all former or current champions at the time of competition. He's dropped bouts in K-1 rules against Giorgio Petrosian and Rachid Belaini. He now fights from 147 lb to 154 lb.

Sudsakorn saw strong wins in Thailand over top fighters in the 63.5 kg, 140 lb division. He beat Kongfah Audonmuang, the Lumpini 140 lb champion, and Noppadet Chengsimew Gym, after losing to both fighters in earlier matches. He also fights in the range of 147 to 154 lb internationally and has wins over Andrei Kulebin and Chahid Oulad El Hadj. He drew with Moussa Konate and lost a match against Fabio Pinca, winner of the last Thai Fight tournament.

This fight was contested at Lumpini Stadium in Bangkok, with Kem giving up weight to Sudsakorn to make the match more even. Kemwears the red gloves and shorts, Sudsakorn the blue.

Pinsiam Amnuaysirichok is a former champion of Lumpini who fights out of Saengmorakot gym in Bangkok. This is the first footage I've seen of him, and I am impressed. Of course, it takes impressive skills to win belts at Lumpini and Omnoi, as well as an Isuzu tournament and Lumpini's fighter of Year '04, all of which Pinsiam did, according to the Saengmorakot website and No Contest Boxing.

His opponent, Arashi Fujiwara, is a Japanese kickboxer who fights for the AJKF. He seems quite used to fighting Muay Thai rules and his style reflects as much. Fujiwara fights as a southpaw in this bout and shows a solid power base from the stance.

Voting is now open for the 2010 LiverKick.com Fight of the Year. Cast your vote in the Weekly Poles section in the left hand column. As a reminder, here are links to videos and write-ups on the 10 nominees: